Stevie Wonder showed up at an event in San Diego, Calif., last week, and he wasn’t there to sing
or make a speech. He was just following the same drumbeat as more than 4,000 other
individuals with and without disabilities from throughout the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and
several other countries around the world to the definitive annual event focusing on the happy
marriage of technology and disability.

Dr. Harry Murphy, who served as director for California State University at Northridge’s Center
on Disability, had the concept back in 1984 of hosting a conference that would bring together
researchers, developers, educators and consumers involved with ways in which technology can be used
by people with disabilities. The conference was called Technology and Persons with
Disabilities, and instead of the 200 Californians organizers anticipated, more than 600 came from
around the world. The event quickly outgrew its campus surroundings, moving first to Los
Angeles and several airport hotels and then to its current venue of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in
San Diego.

The 29 {+t}{+h} annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities conference (simply
referred to as the CSUN conference by longtime attendees) featured hundreds of exhibitors and
workshops, new products and practices, and, well, just plenty of geek speak and networking in every
nook and cranny of one massive venue.

Since the conference has established itself as an international hallmark of technological
equality, the event itself serves as a model of inclusiveness.

All venues are completely accessible to people using wheelchairs. Sign language
interpreters, real-time captioning and a plethora of assistive-listening devices are available for
making the spoken content of all presentations available to people who are deaf or hard of
hearing. Programs in Braille and large print are available, as well as downloadable versions
in HTML 5 of all conference program content, which attendees with print-related disabilities can
download to their smartphones or other mobile devices.

A dog relief area was conveniently located and well-maintained for attendees with service
animals, and volunteers eager to provide information or direction were just about everywhere in the
hotel.

Presentations were a mix of specialized and mainstream technology, as well as discussions of
policies, practices and legislation. Mainstream giants such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft
not only were demonstrating products and serving as sponsors but sometimes were scouting for
talent.

Comcast demonstrated a first in this country with its TV set-top box with talking interface,
enabling TV fans unable to read on-screen menus to hear audio equivalents of channel guides and
program descriptions. Amazon invited attendees to experiment with the accessibility features
of its Kindle Fire, and Google, Adobe and Deque offered a range of sessions demonstrating
accessibility initiatives.

How can a person unable to hold an iPad make it work? How can someone who can’t see pictures
make productive use of an iPhone camera? How can companies ensure that their websites and
employment policies are inclusive?

With roughly 20 presentations to choose from each hour, there was no shortage of learning and
information to be absorbed.

In addition to serious presentations, there were lighthearted moments, as well.

One company hired a robot to mingle at a happy-hour reception. Another held light-night
geek chats in the company suite. And several hosted parties for networking and product
demonstrations.

And what did legendary singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder come to see? Like everyone else, he
was interested in new breakthroughs in technology that enhance accessibility.

He spent some time at HIMS, Inc., for example, where Braille notetakers are making it possible
to read files of a growing number of formats, search the web, post to Twitter and Facebook, and
more. A handheld player can play audio books, music and podcasts, while also boasting a
camera and optical character-recognition software to enable a person with a print disability to
snap a picture of a menu, concert program or grocery ad and have it translated into an audio
file.

And he was just doing a little bit of what the rest of us were doing: Enjoying the company
of others who are in awe of the power of technology, particularly its power to make all things
equal for people who happen to have disabilities.

Next year’s CSUN conference already is being planned for March 2-7, 2015. For more about
the conference this year and next, visit www.CSUNconference.org.

Deborah Kendrick is a Cincinnati writer and advocate for people with disabilities.